Impacts of Owner Race and Geographic Context on Access to Small-Business Financing

Multiple studies document both the scarcity of small-business financing in inner-city minority communities and the higher loan application rejection rates among minority business enterprises (MBEs), compared with equally creditworthy White-owned firms. When MBEs do receive bank financing, they get smaller loans than Whites. Two aspects of these findings are troublesome. First, urban MBEs are heavily concentrated geographically in minority communities, raising the issue of whether difficulties accessing financing reflect firm location, minority ownership, or both. Second, applicable studies rest on weak theoretical foundations. The authors’ findings suggest that banks engage in discriminatory practices limiting credit availability to MBEs. Controlling for risk factors, however, firm location in a minority or inner-city neighborhood has no apparent impact on loan availability or size. Owner race/ethnicity, in contrast, is important. Subtle processes discourage MBEs from seeking bank loans. Owner race and wealth both powerfully shape loan access: high wealth opens doors, minority ownership closes them.